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Editorial Manual

Communications

Communications from Member States

A communication from a Member State in the form of a letter or a note verbale may be circulated at the request of the Member State as a document of a principal organ – the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council – or one of that organ’s subsidiary bodies – for example, the Human Rights Council.

Addressees

A communication is normally addressed to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council, the President of the Economic and Social Council or the President of the Human Rights Council. Communications may also be addressed to chairs of committees. 

In the case of multiple addressees, the order is: the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, the President of the Security Council/President of the Economic and Social Council.

Signature

A letter must be signed by the Permanent Representative or Observer of the State concerned or, in his or her absence, the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the mission.

The signature block is aligned at the right-hand margin and is presented in the following form, with honorific titles omitted:

                     (Signed) Nescio Nomen

 [title as provided by the mission, if any]

Multiple signatories are listed in the English alphabetical order of the countries concerned.

In the case of a signed attachment to a communication, the original order of the signatures is retained.

A note verbale is sent by a permanent mission or an observer mission and is unsigned.

Language

The communication and any attachments thereto must be submitted in one of the six official languages.

Agenda item

Documents of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council are issued under specific items of the agenda. Communications for circulation as such documents should specify in the text the number(s) of the item(s) under which circulation is requested, as listed in the preliminary list of items, the programme of work, the provisional agenda or the agenda. The item numbers and titles are given in the corner notation.

As the Security Council does not have an agenda in the sense of a list of items to be acted on, communications for circulation as documents of the Council are not issued under an agenda item. The formula “in connection with the item entitled” may be used in the request for circulation, if an item on the list of matters of which the Council is seized is specified.

For information on communications containing requests for the inclusion of items in the agenda of the General Assembly, see Documents relating to agendas of principal organs.

Country names

Country names in headings created by the Secretariat are given in the short form listed in .

Country designations employed by Governments in communications are retained even if they differ from the formal name or the short name used within the Organization.

Editorial policy

Communications from Member States and attachments thereto are normally reproduced as submitted, except that:

• The salutation and the complimentary closing are omitted
• The date is omitted from the text and given in the heading (see below)
• Clearly unintentional mistakes in spelling, punctuation, resolution numbers, the names of organs, document symbols, dates and the like may be rectified
• The form of dates within the text may be changed to conform to United Nations style

Headings for communications

The Secretariat circulates communications under a heading indicating the date, the author and the addressee.

Examples:

Letter dated . . . from the Permanent Representative of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Letter dated 5 November 2025 from … to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council

Letter dated . . . from the Chargé d’affaires a.i. of the Permanent Mission of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

Letter dated . . . from the representatives of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the President of the Security Council [in the case of a letter signed by both Permanent Representatives and Chargés d'affaires]

Letter dated 19 January 2026 from the representatives of … to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva addressed to the President of the Human Rights Council [in the case of a letter signed by both Permanent Representatives and Chargés d'affaires]

Identical letters dated . . . from the Permanent Representative of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General and the President of the Security Council

Identical letters dated . . . from the Permanent Representatives of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly and the President of the Security Council

Note verbale dated . . . from the Permanent Mission of . . . to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General

All the headings above are in H1 format. No other heading appears above the body of the communication.

Headings for attachments

The Secretariat inserts the following heading above all attachments to communications from Member States (see Editorial Directive ):

Annex to the [letter/note verbale] dated . . . from the [author of the covering letter/note verbale] to the [addressee of the covering letter/note verbale]

The author and the addressee are identified in the heading by title, not by personal name.

Any existing heading in the attachment as submitted appears below the standard heading inserted by the Secretariat. No headings below the annex heading are added by the Secretariat.

The order of attachments is as follows: annex, enclosure, attachment. The heading “Enclosure” should be used for material that is separate from but attached to an annex; the heading “Attachment” is used for material that is separate from but attached to an enclosure. The heading “Appendix” should generally be avoided.

A cross-reference to any attachments will be added in the body of the letter after the full title or description of the attachment: (see annex), (see enclosure), as relevant.

Roman numerals are used for multiple annexes, enclosures and attachments.
All the headings above are in H1 format.

Material not reproduced

When a communication mentions an attachment that is not reproduced with the communication, a footnote such as one of the following is inserted:

* Not reproduced in the present document.

* On file with the Secretariat and available for consultation.

The footnote should be preceded by an asterisk or other such symbol (see ).

If the attachment is reproduced elsewhere, a reference is given.

Communications from the Secretary-General and other United Nations officials

Letters from the Secretary-General, the Presidents of the main organs or other high officials such as the Chairs of the Main Committees of the General Assembly and other subsidiary bodies may also be circulated as documents of those organs and bodies.

Examples:

Letter dated . . . from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly

Letter dated . . . from the President of the Security Council addressed to the Secretary-General

Letter dated . . . from the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004) addressed to the President of the Security Council

Attachments to such communications are preceded by the heading "Annex", followed by any heading submitted.

All the headings above are in H1 format.